John Spellar

John Spellar is a Labour MP. He became MP for Birmingham Northfield at a by-election on 28 October 1982, but was defeated at the general election in June 1983. He was MP for Warley West 1992-97, and has represented Warley since 1997.

Spellar was born in Bromley in 1947, and was educated at Bromley Parish Primary School, Dulwich College and St. Edmunds Hall, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics, Economics.

Electricians' union officer

Before entering Parliament, Spellar was a national officer for the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (EETPU).

Spellar began working for the union in 1969. According to the Independent, he "became famous as the wheeler dealer who organised the union block vote to ensure that annual party conferences voted the way leaders like Jim Callaghan wanted them to".

MP

Spellar and Roger Godsiff were the only two new Labour MPs not invited to the first meeting of the Tribune Group after the 1992 election, possibly as a result of factional struggles with Clare Short in Birmingham.

Spellar served as: Opposition Whip 1992-94; Opposition Spokesperson for: Northern Ireland 1994-95, Defence, Disarmament and Arms Control 1995-97; Ministry of Defence: Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State 1997-99, Minister of State for the Armed Forces 1999-2001; Minister for Transport: Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions 2001-02, Department for Transport 2002-03; Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office 2003-05; Government Whip 2008-10; Opposition Deputy Chief Whip 2010; Shadow Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2010-

In a 2011 interview with the Australian, Spellar warned against liberalising British counter-terrorism laws.

Spellar was presented a medal marking forty years of service by Len McCluskey of the EEPTU's successor Unite. According to the Independent, the medal was not presented earlier, because McCluskey's predecessor Derek Simpson "could not stand Spellar".

Register of Members' Interests

Overseas visits Name of donor: International Institute for Strategic Studies Address of donor: Arundel House, 13–15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX Amount of donation (or estimate of the probable value): £4,143 Destination of visit: Singapore Date of visit: 2–5 June 2011 Purpose of visit: 10th IISS Asia Security Summit (Registered 20 June 2011)

Name of donor: Australia Israel Cultural Exchange Address of donor: Suite 838, St Kilda Road Towers, 1 Queen’s Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia Amount of donation (or estimate of the probable value): £1,420 Destination of visit: Israel and the Palestinian territories Date of visit: 7-10 January 2012 Purpose of visit: participation in the Australia Israel UK Leadership Dialogue. (Registered 27 January 2012)

Name of donor: 3) Government of Japan 4) All Party Parliamentary Group on Japan Address of donor: 1) Embassy of Japan, 101-104 Piccadilly, London; Amount of donation (or estimate of the probable value): 1) all internal costs, estimated at £2,500 2) flights to and from Japan, estimated at £2,000 Destination of visit: Japan Date of visit: 17-24 March 2012 Purpose of visit: to promote relations between parliamentarians in Westminster and the Diet, to further cultural associations and to promote trade. (Registered 17 April 2012)

Affiliations

Labour First

External Resources

• John Spellar, BBC News, 13 June 2003.